Leopards Fall in District Final Heartbreaker Vs. GlenOak 61-58 – Boys Basketball
#9 GlenOak 61, #4 Louisville 58
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The #4 seed Louisville Leopards Boys Basketball Team lost a heartbreaker to the #9 seed GlenOak Golden Eagles 61-58 in the DI Northeast 2 District Championship Game held at Alliance’s Harry Fails Gymnasium Saturday. With the loss, Louisville finishes their history-making 2023-24 campaign with a finish record of 23-3.
Gross Leads Leopards with Team High 18
Junior forward Brayden Gross scored a team high 18 points to lead the Leopards. Fresh off his injury that sidelined him for the district semifinal against Medina, Gross reached double digits in the first quarter as Louisville captured a 22-19 lead at the end of the opening period.
Senior guard Hayden Nigro scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half for the Leopards. Junior point guard Beau Siegfried made a pair of three-pointers in the opening quarter and scored all of his 10 points in the first half for Louisville.
Other scorers for the Leopards all came from their other three junior guards: Ashton Marshall with 6, Tate Aljancic with 5, and Avery Andrejcik who added 2.
Louisville Leads After Seesaw First Half
The two teams teeter-tottered in the first quarter as the lead exchanged hands 10 times with 2 ties in-between. The high-scoring first quarter concluded with Louisville in front 22-19.
GlenOak jumped back in front with a 5-0 run to begin the second stanza to take a 24-22 advantage. But the Leopards answered right back with baskets by Nigro and Siegfried to reclaim the lead at 26-24.
The two teams continued to exchange points, but Louisville managed to maintain its 4-point advantage. That is until senior guard Ja’Corey Lipkins hit a three-pointer from the volleyball line in the waning seconds of the first half to cut the GlenOak deficit to 32-31 at the break.
Leopards Rally to Snag End of Third Lead
Lipkins deep three gave the Golden Eagles momentum heading into the locker room and they picked up right where they left off. GlenOak scored the first seven points of the second half to cap off a 10-0 run and take their largest lead of the contest at 38-32.
The Leopards chipped away at their disadvantage and ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead. Andrejcik had the wherewithal to spot Aljancic crosscourt on the right wing. With a defender closing in, Aljancic rattled home a three-pointer to knot the game at 43-43 with 19 seconds to go in the period.
The Eagles looked to snag the lead on their final possession of the third quarter, but a drive in the lane was stuffed by Siegfried. His defense forced an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Andrejcik at the top of the a lane. He lateraled a pass in the backcourt to Nigro in stride. Nigro drove inside the arch, spun between two GlenOak defenders, and scored just before the buzzer sounded to indicate the end of the third quarter. 45-43 Louisville.
GlenOak Wins District Title
The theme of the game continued in the final stanza as the Golden Eagles began another quarter strong. GlenOak started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 49-45 lead and they never gave it up the rest of the way. They scored the first 3 points of the first quarter, the first 5 points of the second quarter, the first 7 points of the third quarter, and the first 6 points of the fourth quarter. Thus, the Golden Eagles outscored the Leopards 21-0 to begin each quarter throughout the afternoon.
Louisville trailed by as much as 51-46 in the fourth quarter before Gross scored while being fouled. He converted the free throw from the line to get the Leopards to with 51-49.
The two teams exchanged baskets over the next few minutes as the clock ticked under two minutes to play. Trailing 55-53, Marshall intercepted a pass outside the arch giving Louisville an opportunity to tie the game. However, GlenOak senior forward Jaylen McElroy stepped in front of a Leopard pass and took it the other way to put the Golden Eagles back up by four at 57-53 with 1:46 remaining.
Gross posted up and scored off an assist from Siegfried with 1:01 left to get Louisville to within 58-55. After GlenOak split another pair of free throws, Nigro drew a foul while attempting a putback in the lane. He cashed in on both free throw attempts to get the Leopards within 59-57 with 15.1 seconds left.
Louisville as unable to force a steal in the backcourt and sent Lipkins to the line with a foul. Lipkins hit both clutch free throws that should have all but iced the game at 61-57 with 9.9 seconds remaining.
But just 1.2 seconds later, Nigro was fouled in the backcourt. Nigro made the first to get the Leopards to within a field goal of tying the game. His second shot missed, but he was able to pull down his own rebound. Nigro passed to Aljancic who was heavily guarded by McElroy in the left corner. With no shot attempt possible, Aljancic leaped and threw a pass to Gross that deflected out of bounds giving the ball back to GlenOak.
McElroy, who had caused the turnover on defense, went to the line and missed both free throws with 0.4 seconds on the clock. Nigro secured the board and heaved a desperation full court shot. McElroy blocked it and the Golden Eagles celebrated in the corner of the court by their bench.
Lipkins Scores Game High 20 for Eagles
Lipkins made a pair of three-pointers and scored 14 of his game high 20 points in the first half to lead GlenOak. McElroy also finished with 16 and sophomore center Reese Zerger dropped in 14.
The Golden Eagles have now won 8 of their last 9 games and improve to 20-6 with the victory. GlenOak will take on #5 seed Brunswick in the DI Kent Regional Semifinals on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:00 PM from Kent State’s MAAC Center. The Blue Devils staved off Lakewood St. Edward 77-69 in overtime to claim the DI Northeast 4 District Championship.
DI District Runner-Up & Hope for 2025
This is just the fourth time ever that Louisville has won three tournament games in the same postseason (1992, 1993, and 2022 previously). The Leopards are now 63-91 all-time in the tournament since 1932, which includes a 6-8 record when playing in Division I.
While the loss is devastating, Louisville made plenty of history during the 2023-24 campaign. They tied the team record for most wins in a season and became the first Leopards team to advance to a big division district title game (AAA or Division I). They also set a program record for most points scored a team with 1,877 and became the first squad in team history to finished ranked in the final Division I AP Poll (8th).
Louisville will have big shoes to fill as Nigro will graduate as the program’s all-time leading scorer finishing with 1,434 points. However, the other four starters will all return for their senior season in 2024-25.
The Leopards will not likely be in Division I next year either. The OHSAA is expanding basketball from four to seven divisions like football. If the current enrollment numbers were used, Louisville would drop to Division III and would be poised for a deep run with its tournament tested, senior-laden roster. The Program is alive and well.
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Louisville Vs. GlenOak Boys Basketball Statistics
GOLDEN EAGLES 61, LEOPARDS 58
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
GlenOak 19-12-12-18–61
Louisville 22-10-13-13–58
GlenOak Golden Eagles Boys Basketball Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Ja’Corey Lipkins | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| Jaylen McElroy | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 16 |
| Reese Zerger | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| Katour Ashcraft | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Lisbon James | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| DaJon Robinson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Issa White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 20 | 4 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 61 |
Louisville Leopards Boys Basketball Box Score
| Player | 2PT | 3PT | FG | FTM | FTA | Points |
| Brayden Gross | 5 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 18 |
| Hayden Nigro | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| Beau Siegfried | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Ashton Marshall | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tate Aljancic | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Avery Andrejcik | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 17 | 4 | 21 | 12 | 17 | 58 |
Fouls: 15-13 GlenOak
Records: Louisville 23-3
